Snapchat 'deceived users' about disappearing messages, will be monitored by gov't

If Snapchat users thought their photos and videos disappeared - like they’re supposed to - they may be in for a surprise. The company settled with the Federal Trade Commission Thursday for deceiving users.

Snapchat is a messaging application that allows users to share
pictures, short videos, messages and video chats with a friend or
group. These messages, called Snaps, can be viewed for up to 10
seconds before they disappear.

“In most cases, once the recipient has viewed a message, it
is automatically deleted from Snapchat’s servers and cannot be
retrieved,” the company writes about its
product. The app says it will notify a user if their Snap has
been screen-captured by the recipient. But a study carried out
by a US firm last April said Snapchat was not in fact designed to
erase the files.

The FTC filed a six-count complaint against the popular app,
saying it wasn’t living up to its promises of privacy and
security. The commission accused Snapchat of misrepresenting how
the application actually works.

“Despite Snapchat’s claims, the complaint describes several
simple ways that recipients could save snaps indefinitely,”
the FTC said in a
press release.

In a blog post, the FTC went into detail on how even those people
who aren’t particularly tech-savvy could save Snaps. “When a
recipient got a video message, Snapchat stored the file in a
location outside of the app’s ‘sandbox,’ the private storage area
on the device that other apps can’t access. Because the file was
in an unrestricted place, the recipient could connect their
device to a computer and use simple browsing tools to locate and
save the video,” the blog
post says. “That method was widely publicized as early as
December 2012, but the FTC says Snapchat didn’t fix the flaw
until almost a year later when it began encrypting video files
sent through the app.”

The complaint also detailed how Snapchat deceived its users
regarding the amount of personal data it collected and the
security measures taken to protect that data. It accused Snapchat
of “failure to secure its Find Friends feature resulted in a
security breach that enabled attackers to compile a database of
4.6 million Snapchat usernames and phone numbers,” the
statement said. RT previously reported on the greatest
security fail in the mobile app’s history.

“If a company markets privacy and security as key selling
points in pitching its service to consumers, it is critical that
it keep those promises,” FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said
in the statement. “Any company that makes misrepresentations
to consumers about its privacy and security practices risks FTC
action.”

Snapchat settled with the FTC without admitting any wrongdoing.
They will not pay a monetary penalty, but are now prohibited from
“misrepresenting the extent to which it maintains the
privacy, security, or confidentiality of users'
information," according to the
settlement agreement. The company must create a comprehensive
privacy program to address new and existing privacy risks and to
protect the privacy and confidentiality of information Snapchat
collects. The program will be monitored by an independent privacy
professional for 20 years.

The company has acknowledged its shortcomings.

“When we started building Snapchat, we were focused on
developing a unique, fast, and fun way to communicate with
photos. We learned a lot during those early days. One of the ways
we learned was by making mistakes, acknowledging them, and fixing
them,” Snapchat wrote in a
blog post. “While we were focused on building, some
things didn’t get the attention they could have. One of those was
being more precise with how we communicated with the Snapchat
community.”

The app developers went on to note they had already worked to fix
the issues even before the settlement.

“We had resolved most of those concerns over the past year by
improving the wording of our privacy policy, app description, and
in-app just-in-time notifications. And we continue to invest
heavily in security and countermeasures to prevent abuse.”

Snapchat was founded in 2011 by Robert Murphy and Evan Spiegel as
students at Stanford University. The app quickly gained
popularity among teens eager to avoid their parents on
traditional social media platforms like Facebook. The two
founders reportedly declined a $3 billion offer from Facebook and
a $4 billion offer from Google to acquire Snapchat.